Article 152: The expenditure of the Bayt Al-Mal is divided across six sections:

a- The eight categories which deserve the Zakah to be spent upon them, from the chapter of Zakah.

b- The poor, the needy, the wayfarer, Jihad, and those in debt – if there is nothing found in the chapter of Zakah, they are given money from the permanent sources of income of the Bayt Al-Mal, and if nothing is found then those in debt are not given anything. Taxes are imposed in order to fulfil the expenses required for the poor, the needy, the wayfarer, and Jihad, and the State takes a loan in case of fear of Fasad (corruption).

c- The individuals who provide services to the State such as the civil servants, the soldiers and the rulers are paid from the Bayt Al-Mal. If there were insufficient funds in the Bayt Al-Mal then taxes are imposed in order to fulfil the expenditure needs, and the State takes a loan in case of fear of Fasad (corruption).

d- The essential services and utilities such as roads, mosques, hospitals and schools are funded by the Bayt Al-Mal, and if there are insufficient funds in the Bayt Al-Mal taxes are imposed to fulfil these expenses.

e- The non-essential services and utilities are funded by the Bayt Al-Mal, and if funds found in the Bayt Al-Mal are insufficient then they are not funded, but rather delayed.

f- Emergency situations such as earthquakes and floods are funded by the Bayt Al-Mal, and if the funds were not found the money required is taken as a loan immediately which is then repaid through raised taxes.

The evidence for clause: “a” of this article is the verse of Sadaqah, which is the words of Allah (swt):

“Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [Zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveller - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.” (TMQ 9:60).

As for clause: “b”, it is obligatory upon the Bayt Al-Mal to spend upon the poor, the needy, the traveller and Jihad whether the money was in the Bayt Al-Mal or not, since it is part of what Allah (swt) obligated upon the Bayt Al-Mal and the Muslims. Therefore, if the money is not found in the Bayt Al-Mal then taxes are imposed upon the Muslims for its sake, because it is obligatory upon them as confirmed by the Shari’ah evidences. As for those in debt, they are part of what Allah (swt) obligated upon the Bayt Al-Mal and not upon the Muslims. The reason why it is obligatory upon the Bayt Al-Mal is due to the words of the Messenger :

“I am nearer to every believer than himself, If he leaves a debt,it is upon me. However, if he leaves an estate, it belongs to his heirs.” (reported by Muslim from Jabir), and it was upon him in his characteristic as the Head of the State, and so it is part of what Allah (swt) obligated upon the Bayt Al-Mal. It is reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said:

“if a true believer dies and leaves behind some property, it will be for his inheritors, and if he leaves behind some debt to be paid or needy offspring, then they should come to me as I am the guardian of the deceased."(reported by Al-Bukhari). Accordingly the debt is upon the Bayt Al-Mal. If there was wealth in the Bayt Al-Mal it is obligatory to spend it, and if no funds were found, then no taxes would be imposed, since there is nothing to indicate that it is an obligation upon the Muslims. In the explanation of Sahih Muslim by Al-Nawawi it is said that:

“The Prophet did not use to pray over anyone who died with a debt that he did not manage to fulfil, lest that people would not be careless in taking debts and neglect repayment, and so He would rebuke them by not praying over them. When Allah opened the conquests for the Muslims, He said: ‘whoever left behind a debt, it is upon me.’ in other words, to fulfil it, and he used to fulfil them.”which is evidence that it is paid from the Bayt Al-Mal if the money is found.

As for clause: “c”, the evidence is what has been mentioned that Allah (swt) obligated education, judging and Jihad upon the Muslims, and He (swt) obligated establishing the Khalifah upon them, and made it obligatory upon the Khalifah to govern the affairs with whatever that necessitates in terms of rulers and civil servants, and for those to be able to fulfil their obligations it is necessary for the Bayt Al-Mal to give the civil servants their salaries, and the rulers their compensations, from the rule: “Whatever is required to complete an obligation is itself an obligation”. If whatever is in the Bayt Al-Mal is not sufficient, then taxes are collected in order to meet these expenses, and if it is feared that instability/corruption (Fasad) could occur then loans can be taken to fulfil the need.

As for clause: “d”, in order to reach its evidence it is necessary to understand in detail that the evidence to fund the obligatory expenditures on the benefits and utilities where no alternative exists is that it is part of the management of the affairs, and the narration says:

«وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ»

“and he is responsible for his subjects” (reported by Al-Bukhari from Ibn Umar), and the fact that the Ummah would be afflicted by harm in the absence of it being carried out and the Messenger said:

«لا ضَرَرَ وَلا ضِرَارَ»

“No causing harm and no harming” (reported by Ahmad from Ibn ‘Abbas, and reported and authenticated by Al-Hakim from Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri). Accordingly, these are the evidence for the obligation upon the Khalifah for the interest and utilities, which is why it is obligatory upon him in an absolute sense whether they were from the essentials or non-essentials. The evidence for their obligation upon the Muslims are the words: “No causing harm and no harming”, which is why the non-essential interests are not obligatory upon them since the Ummah would not be afflicted with harm if they were not undertaken, and nothing is obligatory upon the Ummah except that which would cause a harm if it was not undertaken.

Accordingly, not every interest and utility is obligatory upon the Muslims, rather only those interests which would cause harm if they were not undertaken. As for the Bayt Al-Mal, it is obligatory for it to undertake every issue which brings benefit for the Muslims, and everything which, if left without being undertaken, would cause them harm. Due to the restriction of the evidence of its obligation upon the Ummah with the narration: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm”, taxes are not imposed upon the Muslims in order to undertake the non-essential interests and utilities such as widening the roads which are sufficient for the people without the widening or building a hospital that could be managed without, and anything else similar from non-essential interests. If the money is found in the Bayt Al-Mal the State would undertake them, and if not they would be delayed until the money is found, and it is not correct for taxes to be imposed for the sake of undertaking them.

As for clause: “f”, its evidence is the evidence for saving the one in trouble: in an agreed upon narration from Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari, that the Prophe t said:

“Every Muslim has to give in charity. The people asked, "O Allah's Prophet! If someone has nothing to give, what will he do?" He said, "He should work with his hands and benefit himself and also give in charity (from what he earns)." The people further asked, "If he cannot find even that?" He replied, "He should help the needy who appeal for help."Then the people asked, "If he cannot do that?" He replied, "Then he should perform good deeds and keep away from evil deeds and this will be regarded as charitable deeds."”

And in the same way, the agreed upon narration from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah said:

“A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. So he should not oppress him nor should he hand him over to. Whoever fulfills the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever removes the troubles of his brother, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever covers up the fault of a Muslim, Allah will cover up his fault on the Day of Resurrection”.

This is general encompassing both the Khalifah as well as the rest of the Muslims, and so it is obligatory upon the Bayt Al-Mal and upon the Muslims. If sufficient funds are found in the Bayt Al-Mal then they are spent upon from there, and if there were not sufficient funds found then taxes are collected for its sake because it is obligatory upon the Muslims to help those in trouble.

With respect to the taking out of loans in a situation where corruption (Fasad) is feared, as mentioned in clauses: “b” and: “c” and: “f”, this is because corruption is a harm afflicting the Muslims, and its removal would be obligatory due to the narration:

«لا ضَرَرَ وَلا ضِرَارَ»

“There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm”. So, if the funds were not available, and loans were not taken out, and waiting for the money could cause harm, then it would be obligatory to take out a loan to remove the harm. It would then be necessary for the State to take a loan for the amount required to remove the harm. It is not permitted to take out a loan for the sake of anything other than these three situations, because spending in other situations depends on the presence of funds, but if the funds are not present money should not be borrowed for it. As for anything which is entitled to funds whether or not they were found in the Bayt Al-Mal, then if the funds are found they are spent upon it, and if they are not found then they are sought through taking taxes from the Muslims in order to fulfil what is required. This occurs if it is possible to wait and no harm occurs due to waiting, and so it is delayed until the taxes have been collected, and if it cannot be waited for and the people would be afflicted with harm due to any delay then at that time a loan would be taken out for its sake. So accordingly the State would not take out a loan except for the situations which would cause harm if nothing was spent, which are those situations and things whose entitlement to funds remains whether the funds were found or not.